Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1887-02-19

into it, the flesh being cut and bruis-
ed in places. He was whipped for
failing to do his task in whip shop.
Q.-You charge Mr.. Peck with
having unduly tried to influence the
vote of a State Senator in this, that
he asked you to make General Price
an offer to give a relative of his a
position if he price, would vote for
a certain party for United States
Senator. What do you know about
that?
Alt was in April or May last
Mr.. Peck said to me if | would go
out and see General Price and make
a proposition that if he would vote
for Governor Wilson for United
States Senator this winter when the
Legislature met, he would use his
influence in removing Frank Brown
from this institution as Clerk and
appoint General Prices grandson In
his place.
Q.-You charge Mr.. Peck, the
Superintendent, with using profane
and unbecoming language concern
ing the Directors of the Peniten.
tiary. Do you know anything about
that's
Ayes; he said to me 81 am
going down to see the Governor,
and if he don't support me against
these Cd d--n sous of -, / will
raise hell"-that he could do it or
would do it, or something to that eff
feet. He meant the Board of Direc-
tors in using that language.
HANGING TOO GOOD FOR SUCH
BRUTEs.
Amos Boston, convict, testified
that during the punishment of re-
fractory prisoner Col. Peck stood by
and seemed to enjoy 1T.
w. S. Douglas, who was confined
on charge of murder, said that he
was treated all right personally, ex-
cept that he was punished once after
personal appeal to the Su-
perintendent to be let off for reason
that as he led the prayer meetings
of the convicts it might destroy his
influence for good. He asserted
that Col. Peck stopped these prayer
meetings and would allow no relig-
ious worship except when conducted
by a regular minister of the gospel.
THE WORST CASE.
Decidedly the most damaging case
against Col. Peck in regard to the
charge of cluel punishment was that
of convict John G.. Roberts. This
man had quite an eventful history
to relate and told his story with such
and qualifications as to
facts he was not absolutely certain
about that he inspired the conf
dence of the committee, which was
strengthened by corroborative testi-
mOny.
Roberts was sent to the Penitenti-
airy from Hinton for bigamy. He
was born at Gibraltar, Spain, and
was educated at Eaton College,
England. He was a locomotive en-.
gineer, and ut the time of his convIc-
ton of the crime for which he now
suffers imprisonment was employed
on the Chesapeake and Ohio Rail.
road. He testified that he was whip
ped four times and underwent pun.
ishment in the shoe fly once. On
June 4th, 1886, he received a severe
the marks of which he
now carries, and he showed to the
the scars on his person as
the result. He said be begged for
mercy, but it was not melted out to
him. The blood ran down to his
knees and clotted there, aud his un-
dergarments were soaked with gore.
He was formerly employed iu the
engine room, but was removed to
the whip factory. Before his i'm
prisonment he fell from his engine
OH the Chesapeake and Ohio road
and received severe injuries and also
injured bis hand to the extent that
he could not perform the task set
for him, and for which he was pun
ished. For failure to perform his
task he was in one day whipped and
put in the shoo-hy. He was finally
excused from work by the prison
physician on account OF his lame
hand, but many of his privileges
we're taken away. His cell was
cleared of reading matter, his wife's
letters and her picture, nothing be-
ing left but his bed. This was cor
roborated by 7. j. johnson, a guard.
MIR. Wickham, the engineer of the
Penitentiary engine rooms also cor
rob0rated Roberts evidence, and adj.
ding that 1T would have been better
to have put six other convlcts in the
whip shop and kept Roberts in the
engine room, where his intelligence
and experience were of value to the
State.